Woman who terrorized granddaughter as a “witch” receives life sentence

An Oklahoma City woman who was running a “house of horrors” has been sentenced to three consecutive life terms after admitting that she terrorized her 7-year-old granddaughter by pretending to be a witch named “Nelda” to discipline the child while she lived there for several months in 2014.

According to a report in The Oklahoman, Geneva S. Robinson, 51, “had previously pleaded guilty to five counts of felony child abuse, admitting to scratching the girl’s neck, striking her in the face, hitting her with a rolling pin on the hand and cutting her hair while she slept.”

During sentencing on Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Merydith Easter told the judge, “What she did was horrific and what she did will forever impact this child and her siblings. She deserves the same amount of mercy that she showed this child, and that’s none.”

According to Easter, the little girl was kicked, hit, whipped, burned and tortured repeatedly. Robinson told the child that witches and creatures lived in the attic.

During the hearing, the judge held up before-and-after photos that illustrated the toll taken on the girl during the time that the she lived with her grandmother. “You know what died? Those sparkling eyes from an innocent girl,” the judge said.

Robinson’s boyfriend, Joshua Granger, 33, admitted that he had assisted Robinson in scaring the victim and was sentenced to one count of felony child abuse. He now faces 30 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, the couple often wore scary costumes, which was proven in a three-minute video which was reportedly taken by one of Robinson’s adult children.

In the video, Robinson is dressed in a long, black cloak and appears to be wearing a mask. Her hands are painted green. Granger can be seen and is heard telling the child, “Grandma’s sick because of you. You go with the witch.”

Robinson eventually threatens the girl, who has been told that witches eat bad children, by saying, “Give me a fork and a knife.”

Granger claimed during his sentencing that the incident on the video was designed to scare the child so she’d stop misbehaving, and it was the only time he saw Robinson dress as the witch.

Robinson took the girl to a hospital in September 2014, saying that she “could not control” the child, whom police reported was malnourished.

“She understands she went too far,” said defense attorney Tanya Jones, noting that Robinson “ruled with an iron fist because she grew up in an era where physical discipline was common.”

“Robinson told the judge she currently is getting treatment and taking medication for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia,” according to the report, which detailed alleged abuses, including hanging the girl by her arms from the garage ceiling and whipping her, forcing her to sleep outside with the dogs, withholding adequate nutrition and medical care, and keeping her out of school.

Documents showed that Robinson’s adult children were also physically abused by “Nelda” when they were young.

The abuse took place time between June 2014 and September 2014, when the child and her three siblings lived with both defendants in Oklahoma City after their parents split up. There was evidence that the little girl had been tortured.

In court, the children’s father said that he believed Robinson no longer did the “Nelda thing” and was taking medication.

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